The Art of Discovery & Adventure

The Art of Discovery & Adventure

While poking around the new book shelves at the Library, I found a title that was as timely as it was fascinating.

Explorers’ Sketchbooksby Huw Lewis-Jones and Kari Herbert details photographic examples of the journals created by explorers throughout history. I was intrigued by the personal nature of some of the entries — words that described discoveries the explorers themselves encountered. Some of the familiar names that popped off the pages were Roald Amundsen, John James Audubon, Charles Darwin, Thor Heyerdahl, and so many others.

One of my personal favorites in the book was the journal of Edmund Hillary, the New Zealand explorer, who with Tenzing Norgay, became the first climbers to reach the summit of Mount Everest. On May 29, 1953, on a page with the heading, “The Summit,” Hillary wrote that he peeped out their tent and “indulged in the sensations of gazing over the world from our lofty perch.”

I like to journal and sketch. Throughout the years I have sporadically maintained a personal diary. I have created scrapbooks with magazine clippings that were embellished with drawings from my own hand. I have detailed trips in marble-covered theme books.

More recently, I have returned to journaling and sketching and have plans to chronicle future adventures. Explorers’ Sketchbooks was a beautiful book about the art of discovery. I look forward to following the example of my fellow explorers.